More than 125 million Europeans could be exposed to levels of road traffic noise above legal guidelines. This causes a range of health problems, according to a new assessment from the European Environment Agency (EEA).

Air pollutant emissions were above legal limits in eight Member States in 2011, preliminary data shows. In 2010, 12 Member States exceeded these limits, according to final official data reported under the European Union’s National Emission Ceilings (NEC) Directive.

In 2012, the average new van sold in the European Union emitted 180.2 g of carbon dioxide for every kilometre travelled, which is close to the 175 g CO2/km target to be gradually phased in between next year and 2017.

The average car sold in the EU in 2012 was 9 % more fuel-efficient than the average three years before, according to a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). Improved technology and an increase in the share of diesel cars are the main reasons behind the fall in average CO2 emissions.

Air is a tricky subject to photograph, but this challenge has proved to be a source of inspiration for the winners of photo storycompetition ‘ImaginAIR’, organised by the European Environment Agency (EEA).

Ozone pollution still exceeded target levels in Europe during summer 2012, but the number of exceedances of the alert threshold was lower than in any year since monitoring started in 1997. However, almost all EU Member States failed to keep levels of the pollutant within targets set to protect human health.